Plans Have Changed For The Main Event Of Summerslam And Probably WrestleMania, Too

As recently as a few weeks ago, the main event for SummerSlam was set to be Brock Lesnar defending his Universal Title against Braun Strowman. Brock would win that match, along with several other title defenses along the way, until he got to WrestleMania 34, where he would lose the belt to Roman Reigns.

According to a report from Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the WWE has scrapped all that other stuff and is cutting right to the chase--putting the strap on Roman Reigns. And they're going to do it at SummerSlam.

Two Mondays ago, Roman Reigns kicked off RAW by coming out and just saying "I get the winner of Brock vs Samoa Joe at Great Balls of Fire." He made a good case for getting to call his own shot. It is his yard, after all, and the size of his "Dogness" is unquestioned. He said he would face either Brock or Joe at Summerslam. Of course, he seemed to have forgotten Braun Strowman wasn't finished with him, so Braun laid him out later in the night and an Ambulance Match was made for #GreatBalls between a large dog and a Monster. It would seem to be a kind of de facto arrangement that the winners of Brock vs Joe and Braun vs Roman would face each other at SummerSlam.

Spoiler Alert: According to Meltzer, that match has been set as Brock vs Roman.

So what of Braun? What of Joe? What do they have to look forward to? It doesn't appear clear, though Meltzer was quick to point out that "everyone realizes how strong Samoa Joe has gotten over in the Lesnar feud." Not strong enough to go over at Great Balls of Fire, it would seem, though. And as for Braun? No plans have been floated for The Man Who Never Finishes With You.

With Reigns vs Lesnar taking place at SummerSlam, one would have to think that's no longer on the docket for WrestleMania 34 at this point. It's still possible, of course, that if the SummerSlam match between Brock and Roman goes over well, WWE could do a rematch at Mania. But Meltzer says there's been speculation that the main reason for John Cena's "Free Agent" status was to build toward Reigns vs Cena at Mania, though that's only hearsay and innuendo at this point.